Company News

OTTAWA, Feb. 5, 2018 /CNW/ – Today, Ottawa data software company Lixar I.T. Inc. launched the MEGAPHONO music app with “MEGA-AUDIO”; the music showcase festival runs February 8-10th in Ottawa. But it’s not your regular music app – it’s the first ever contextual audio app that allows you to listen to the bands playing the festival AND rewards those bands in LiteCoin when their songs are listened to on the app.

How will they be rewarded? Given the hype around cryptocurrencies and blockchain around the world, Lixar decided to augment their LWAYVE contextual audio software with a transparent blockchain based royalty payment system which rewards artists with cryptocurrency LiteCoin for songs played. Each song fully played will be verified in the blockchain so there is full transparency.

“It’s never been done before and it is the future of how artists will transparently get what they deserve, which is fair payment for use of their creations. I always wanted to figure out how we could do our part in supporting the local music scene and this made perfect sense,” said CEO, Bill Syrros.

To get engaged in the process, users just need to download the MEGAPHONO 2018 app from the Android or Apple app store and, once installed, press the play button. For every full song play, Lixar will pay the associated artist .25 cents in LiteCoin directly to the artist.

“We’re so excited about this aspect of the app for the artists. Given how confusing the royalty payment systems are on streaming services, having this transparent process is a game-changer. It’s a fun bonus for the artists, and will advance the conversation on what is possible with cryptocurrency and blockchain in the music space,” said Jon Bartlett, Director of MEGAPHONO.

Most bands playing MEGAPHONO are unsigned local bands that are looking to elevate their profiles in front of music industry folks coming in from all over the world. Encouraging people to listen to their songs and knowing that they will be rewarded for it makes really good sense. The hope is that bands and their fans tell as many people as possible to download the app and listen to “MEGA-AUDIO.”

About MEGAPHONO:

MEGAPHONO is Ottawa’s music showcase festival. The 4th edition of MEGAPHONO takes place February 8-10, 2018 in venues across Ottawa and Hull, and will host 70 artists and 50 music industry delegates for panels, showcases, and other events. MEGAPHONO seeks to build the National Capital’s music industry by creating new business opportunities for our music outside of our region and abroad, and increasing civic pride in Ottawa’s music industry on a local level to help increase audiences for live music.www.megaphono.tv@MEGAPHONO